VISUAL STUDIO HOT KEYS

Here is a quick reference to Visual Studio's shortcut keys known as 'Hot Keys'. These 'Hot Keys'
can make your .NET software development easier and a lot more productive. The 'must-know' shortcut
keys are highlighted.

General

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-X or Shift-Delete

Cuts the currently selected item to the clipboard

Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Insert

Copies the currently selected item to the clipboard

Ctrl-V or Shift-Insert

Pastes the item in the clipboard at the cursor

Ctrl-Z or Alt-Backspace

Undo previous editing action

Ctrl-Y or Ctrl-Shift-Z

Redo the previous undo action

Ctrl-Shift-V or Ctrl-Shift-Insert

Pastes an item from the clipboard ring tab of the Toolbox at the cursor in the file and automatically selects
the pasted item. Cycle through the items on the clipboard by pressing the shortcut keys repeatedly

Esc

Closes a menu or dialog, cancels an operation in progress, or places focus in the current document window

Ctrl-S

Saves the selected files in the current project (usually the file that is being edited)

Ctrl-Shift-S

Saves all documents and projects

Ctrl-P

Displays the Print dialog

F7

Switches from the design view to the code view in the editor

Shift-F7

Switches from the code view to the design view in the editor

F8

Moves the cursor to the next item, for example in the TaskList window or Find Results window

Shift-F8

Moves the cursor to the previous item, for example in the TaskList window or Find Results window

Shift-F12

Finds a reference to the selected item or the item under the cursor

Ctrl-Shift-G

Opens the file whose name is under the cursor or is currently selected

Ctrl-/

Switches focus to the Find/Command box on the Standard toolbar

Ctrl-Shift-F12

Moves to the next task in the TaskList window

Ctrl-Shift-8

Moves backward in the browse history. Available in the object browser or Class View window

Alt-Left Arrow

Go back in the web browser history

Alt-Right Arrow

Go forward in the web browser history

Text Navigation

Shortcut

Description

Left Arrow

Moves the cursor one character to the left

Right Arrow

Moves the cursor one character to the right

Down Arrow

Moves the cursor down one line

Up Arrow

Moves the cursor up one line

Page Down

Scrolls down one screen in the editor window

Page Up

Scrolls up one screen in the editor window

End

Moves the cursor to the end of the current line

Home

Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line. If you press Home when the cursor is already at the start of
the line, it will toggle the cursor between the first non-whitespace character and the real start of the line

Ctrl-End

Moves the cursor to the end of the document

Ctrl-Home

Moves the cursor to the start of the document

Ctrl-G

Displays the Go to Line dialog. If the debugger is running, the dialog also lets you specify addresses or function
names to go to

Ctrl-]

Moves the cursor to the matching brace in the document. If the cursor is on an opening brace, this will move to
the corresponding closing brace and vice versa

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-N

Moves to the next bookmark in the document

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-P

Moves to the previous bookmark

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-I

Displays Quick Info, based on the current language

Ctrl-Down Arrow

Scrolls text down one line but does not move the cursor. This is useful for scrolling more text into view
without losing your place. Available only in text editors

Ctrl-Up Arrow

Scrolls text up one line but does not move the cursor. Available only in text editors

Ctrl-Right Arrow

Moves the cursor one word to the right

Ctrl-Left Arrow

Moves the cursor one word to the left

Ctrl-Shift-1

Navigates to the next definition, declaration, or reference of an item. Available in the object browser and
Class View window. Also available in source editing windows if you have already used the Edit.GoToReference
(Shift-F12) shortcut

Ctrl-Shift-2

Navigates to the previous definition, declaration, or reference of an item

Text Manipulation

Shortcut

Description

Enter

Inserts a new line

Delete

Deletes one character to the right of the cursor

Insert

Toggles between insert and overtype insertion modes

Tab

Indents the currently selected line or lines by one tab stop. If there is no selection, this inserts a tab stop

Shift-Tab

Moves current line or selected lines one tab stop to the left

Backspace or Shift-Backspace

Deletes one character to the left of the cursor

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-C

Marks the current line or selected lines of code as a comment, using the correct comment syntax for the programming
language

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-U

Removes the comment syntax from the current line or currently selected lines of code

Ctrl-T or Shift-Enter

Swaps the characters on either side of the cursor. (For example, AC|BD becomes AB|CD.) Available only in text
editors

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-L

Removes all unnamed bookmarks in the current document

Ctrl-M, Ctrl-O

Automatically determines logical boundaries for creating regions in code, such as procedures, and then hides
them. This collapses all such regions in the current document

Alt-Right Arrow or Ctrl-Spacebar

Displays statement completion based on the current language or autocompletes word if existing text unambiguously
identifies a single symbol

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-\

Removes horizontal whitespace in the selection or deletes whitespace adjacent to the cursor if there is no
selection

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-F

Applies the indenting and space formatting for the language as specified on the Formatting pane of the language
in the Text Editor section of the Options dialog to the selected text.

Ctrl-L

Cuts all selected lines or the current line if nothing has been selected to the clipboard

Ctrl-Shift-L

Deletes all selected lines or the current line if no selection has been made

Ctrl-Enter

Inserts a blank line above the cursor

Ctrl-Shift-Enter

Inserts a blank line below the cursor

Shift-Alt-T

Moves the line containing the cursor below the next line

Ctrl-J

Lists members for statement completion when editing code

Ctrl-U

Changes the selected text to lowercase characters

Ctrl-Shift-U

Changes the selected text to uppercase characters

Ctrl-Shift-Spacebar

Displays a tooltip that contains information for the current parameter, based on the current language

Ctrl-M, Ctrl-U

Removes the outlining information for the currently selected region

Ctrl-M, Ctrl-P

Removes all outlining information from the entire document

Ctrl-R, Ctrl-P

Swaps the anchor and endpoint of the current selection

Ctrl-M, Ctrl-L

Toggles all previously marked hidden text sections between hidden and display states

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-K

Sets or removes a bookmark at the current line

Ctrl-M, Ctrl-M

Toggles the currently selected hidden text section or the section containing the cursor if there is no selection
between the hidden and display states

Ctrl-K, Ctrl-H

Sets or removes a shortcut in the tasklist to the current line

Ctrl-R, Ctrl-R

Enables or disables word wrap in an editor

Ctrl-R, Ctrl-W

Shows or hides spaces and tab marks

Ctrl-Delete

Deletes the word to the right of the cursor

Ctrl-Backspace

Deletes the word to the left of the cursor

Ctrl-Shift-T

Transposes the two words that follow the cursor. (For example, |End Sub would be changed to read Sub End|.)

Text Selection

Moves the cursor to the left one character, extending the column selection

Shift-Right Arrow

Moves the cursor to the right one character, extending the selection

Shift-Alt-Right Arrow

Moves the cursor to the right one character, extending the column selection

Ctrl-Shift-End

Moves the cursor to the end of the document, extending the selection

Ctrl-Shift-Home

Moves the cursor to the start of the document, extending the selection

Ctrl-Shift-]

Moves the cursor to the next brace, extending the selection

Shift-Down Arrow

Moves the cursor down one line, extending the selection

Shift-Alt-Down Arrow

Moves the cursor down one line, extending the column selection

Shift-End

Moves the cursor to the end of the current line, extending the selection

Shift-Alt-End

Moves the cursor to the end of the line, extending the column selection

Shift-Home

Moves the cursor to the start of the line, extending the selection

Shift-Alt-Home

Moves the cursor to the start of the line, extending the column selection

Shift-Up Arrow

Moves the cursor up one line, extending the selection

Shift-Alt-Up Arrow

Moves the cursor up one line, extending the column selection

Shift-Page Down

Extends selection down one page

Shift-Page Up

Extends selection up one page

Ctrl-A

Selects everything in the current document

Ctrl-W

Selects the word containing the cursor or the word to the right of the cursor

Ctrl-=

Selects from the current location in the editor back to the previous location in the navigation history

Ctrl-Shift-Page Down

Moves the cursor to the last line in view, extending the selection

Ctrl-Shift-Page Up

Moves the cursor to the top of the current window, extending the selection

Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Right Arrow

Moves the cursor to the right one word, extending the column selection

Ctrl-Shift-Left Arrow

Moves the cursor one word to the left, extending the selection

Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Left Arrow

Moves the cursor to the left one word, extending the column selection

Project Related

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-Shift-B

Builds the solution

Ctrl-N

Displays the New File dialog. Note: files created this way are not associated with a project. Use Ctrl-Shift-A
to add a new file in a project

Ctrl-Shift-N

Displays the New Project dialog

Ctrl-O

Displays the Open File dialog

Ctrl-Shift-O

Displays the Open Project dialog

Shift-Alt-A

Displays the Add Existing Item dialog

Ctrl-Shift-A

Displays the Add New Item dialog

Ctrl-Alt-Insert

Allows you to override base class methods in a derived class when an overridable method is highlighted in the
Class View pane

Window Manipulation

Shortcut

Description

Shift-Alt-Enter

Toggles full screen mode

Ctrl-+

Goes back to the previous location in the navigation history. (For example, if you press Ctrl-Home to go to the
start of a document, this shortcut will take the cursor back to wherever it was before you pressed Ctrl-Home.)

Ctrl-Shift-+

Moves forward in the navigation history. This is effectively an undo for the View.NavigateBackward operation

Ctrl-F4

Closes the current MDI child window

Shift-Esc

Closes the current tool window

Ctrl-F2

Moves the cursor to the navigation bar at the top of a code view

Ctrl-Tab

Cycles through the MDI child windows one window at a time

Ctrl-F6, Ctrl-Shift-Tab

Moves to the previous MDI child window

Alt-F6, Ctrl-Shift-F6

Moves to the next tool window

Shift-Alt-F6

Moves to the previously selected window

F6

Moves to the next pane of a split pane view of a single document

Shift-F6

Moves to the previous pane of a document in split pane view

Ctrl-Pagedown

Moves to the next tab in the document or window (e.g., you can use this to switch the HTML editor from its
design view to its HTML view

Ctrl-PageUp

Moves to the previous tab in the document or window

Control Editor (Designer)

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-Down Arrow

Moves the selected control down in increments of one on the design surface

Down Arrow

Moves the selected control down to the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Left Arrow

Moves the control to the left in increments of one on the design surface

Left Arrow

Moves the control to the left to the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Right Arrow

Moves the control to the right in increments of one on the design surface

Right Arrow

Moves the control to the right into the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Up Arrow

Moves the control up in increments of one on the design surface

Up Arrow

Moves the control up into the next grid position on the design surface

Tab

Moves to the next control in the tab order

Shift-Tab

Moves to the previous control in the tab order

Ctrl-Shift-Down Arrow

Increases the height of the control in increments of one on the design surface

Shift-Down Arrow

Increases the height of the control to the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Shift-Left Arrow

Reduces the width of the control in increments of one on the design surface

Shift-Left Arrow

Reduces the width of the control to the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Shift-Right Arrow

Increases the width of the control in increments of one on the design surface

Shift-Left Arrow

Increases the width of the control to the next grid position on the design surface

Ctrl-Shift-Up Arrow

Decreases the height of the control in increments of one on the design surface

Shift-Up Arrow

Decreases the height of the control to the next grid position on the design surface

Search and Replace

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-F

Displays the Find dialog

Ctrl-Shift-F

Displays the Find in Files dialog

F3

Finds the next occurrence of the previous search text

Ctrl-F3

Finds the next occurrence of the currently selected text or the word under the cursor if there is no selection

Shift-F3

Finds the previous occurrence of the search text

Ctrl-Shift-F3

Finds the previous occurrence of the currently selected text or the word under the cursor

Ctrl-D

Places the cursor in the Find/Command line on the Standard toolbar

Alt-F3, H

Selects or clears the Search Hidden Text option for the Find dialog

Ctrl-I

Starts an incremental search—after pressing Ctrl-I, you can type in text, and for each letter you type, VS.NET
will find the first occurrence of the sequence of letters you have typed so far. This is a very convenient
facility, as it lets you find text by typing in exactly as many characters as are required to locate the text and
no more. If you press Ctrl-I a second time without typing any characters, it recalls the previous pattern. If you
press it a third time or you press it when an incremental search has already found a match, VS.NET searches for
the next occurrence.

Alt-F3, C

Selects or clears the Match Case option for Find and Replace operations

Alt-F3, R

Selects or clears the Regular Expression option so that special characters can be used in Find and Replace operations

Ctrl-H

Displays the Replace dialog

Ctrl-Shift-H

Displays the Replace in Files dialog

Ctrl-Shift-I

Performs an incremental search in reverse direction

Alt-F3, S

Halts the current Find in Files operation

Alt-F3, B

Selects or clears the Search Up option for Find and Replace operations

Alt-F3, W

Selects or clears the Match Whole Word option for Find and Replace operations

Alt-F3, P

Selects or clears the Wildcard option for Find and Replace operations

Help

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-Alt-F1

Displays the Contents window for the documentation

Ctrl-F1

Displays the Dynamic Help window, which displays different topics depending on what items currently have focus.
If the focus is in a source window, the Dynamic Help window will display help topics that are relevant to the text
under the cursor

F1

Displays a topic from Help that corresponds to the part of the user interface that currently has the focus. If the
focus is in a source window, Help will try to display a topic relevant to the text under the cursor

Ctrl-Alt-F2

Displays the Help Index window

Shift-Alt-F2

Displays the Index Results window, which lists the topics that contain the keyword selected in the Index window

Alt-Down Arrow

Displays the next topic in the table of contents. Available only in the Help browser window

Alt-Up Arrow

Displays the previous topic in the table of contents. Available only in the Help browser window

Ctrl-Alt-F3

Displays the Search window, which allows you to search for words or phrases in the documentation

Shift-Alt-F3

Displays the Search Results window, which displays a list of topics that contain the string searched for from the
Search window

Shift-F1

Displays a topic from Help that corresponds to the user interface item that has the focus

Debugging

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-Alt-V, A

Displays the Auto window to view the values of variables currently in the scope of the current line of execution
within the current procedure

Ctrl-Alt-Break

Temporarily stops execution of all processes in a debugging session. Available only in run mode

Ctrl-Alt-B

Displays the Breakpoints dialog, where you can add and modify breakpoints

Ctrl-Alt-C

Displays the Call Stack window to display a list of all active procedures or stack frames for the current thread
of execution. Available only in break mode

Ctrl-Shift-F9

Clears all of the breakpoints in the project

Ctrl-Alt-D

Displays the Disassembly window

Ctrl-F9

Enables or disables the breakpoint on the current line of code. The line must already have a breakpoint for this
to work

Ctrl-Alt-E

Displays the Exceptions dialog

Ctrl-Alt-I

Displays the Immediate window, where you can evaluate expressions and execute individual commands

Ctrl-Alt-V, L

Displays the Locals window to view the variables and their values for the currently selected procedure in the stack
frame

Ctrl-Alt-M, 1

Displays the Memory 1 window to view memory in the process being debugged. This is particularly useful when you do
not have debugging symbols available for the code you are looking at. It is also helpful for looking at large
buffers, strings, and other data that does not display clearly in the Watch or Variables window

Ctrl-Alt-M, 2

Displays the Memory 2 window

Ctrl-Alt-M, 3

Displays the Memory 3 window

Ctrl-Alt-M, 4

Displays the Memory 4 window

Ctrl-Alt-U

Displays the Modules window, which allows you to view the .dll or .exe files loaded by the program. In multiprocess
debugging, you can right-click and select Show Modules for all programs

Ctrl-B

Opens the New Breakpoint dialog

Ctrl-Alt-Q

Displays the Quick Watch dialog with the current value of the selected expression. Available only in break mode.
Use this command to check the current value of a variable, property, or other expression for which you have not
defined a watch expression

Ctrl-Alt-G

Displays the Registers window, which displays CPU register contents

Ctrl-Shift-F5

Terminates the current debugging session, rebuilds if necessary, and then starts a new debugging session.
Available in break and run modes

Ctrl-Alt-N

Displays the Running Documents window that displays the set of HTML documents that you are in the process of
debugging. Available in break and run modes

Ctrl-F10

Starts or resumes execution of your code and then halts execution when it reaches the selected statement. This
starts the debugger if it is not already running

Ctrl-Shift-F10

Sets the execution point to the line of code you choose

Alt-NUM *

Highlights the next statement to be executed

F5

If not currently debugging, this runs the startup project or projects and attaches the debugger. If in break mode,
this allows execution to continue (i.e., it returns to run mode)

Ctrl-F5

Runs the code without invoking the debugger. For console applications, this also arranges for the console window
to stay open with a "Press any key to continue" prompt when the program finishes

F11

Executes code one statement at a time, tracing execution into function calls

Shift-F11

Executes the remaining lines of a function in which the current execution point lies

F10

Executes the next line of code but does not step into any function calls

Shift-F5

Available in break and run modes, this terminates the debugging session

Ctrl-Alt-V, T

Displays the This window, which allows you to view the data members of the object associated with the current method

Ctrl-Alt-H

Displays the Threads window to view all of the threads for the current process

F9

Sets or removes a breakpoint at the current line

Ctrl-F11

Displays the disassembly information for the current source file. Available only in break mode

Ctrl-Alt-W, 1

Displays the Watch 1 window to view the values of variables or watch expressions

Ctrl-Alt-W, 2

Displays the Watch 2 window

Ctrl-Alt-W, 3

Displays the Watch 3 window

Ctrl-Alt-W, 4

Displays the Watch 4 window

Ctrl-Alt-P

Displays the Processes dialog, which allows you to attach or detach the debugger to one or more running processes

Object Browser

Shortcut

Description

Alt-F12

Displays the Find Symbol dialog

Ctrl-F12

Displays the declaration of the selected symbol in the code

F12

Displays the definition for the selected symbol in code

Ctrl-Alt-F12

Displays the Find Symbol Results window

Ctrl-Alt-J

Displays the Object Browser to view the classes, properties, methods, events, and constants defined either in your
project or by components and type libraries referenced by your project

Alt-+

Moves back to the previously selected object in the selection history of the object browser

Shift-Alt-+

Moves forward to the next object in the selection history of the object browser

Tool Window

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-Shift-M

Toggles the Command window into or out of a mode allowing text within the window to be selected

Ctrl-Shift-C

Displays the Class View window

Ctrl-Alt-A

Displays the Command window, which allows you to type commands that manipulate the IDE

Ctrl-Alt-T

Displays the Document Outline window to view the flat or hierarchical outline of the current document

Ctrl-Alt-F

Displays the Favorites window, which lists shortcuts to web pages

Ctrl-Alt-O

Displays the Output window to view status messages at runtime

F4

Displays the Properties window, which lists the design-time properties and events for the currently selected item

Shift-F4

Displays the property pages for the item currently selected. (For example, use this to show a project's settings.)

Ctrl-Shift-E

Displays the Resource View window

Ctrl-Alt-S

Displays the Server Explorer window, which allows you to view and manipulate database servers, event logs, message
queues, web services, and many other operating system services

Ctrl-Alt-R

Displays the web browser window, which allows you to view pages on the Internet

Ctrl-Alt-L

Displays the Solution Explorer, which lists the projects and files in the current solution

Displays the Toolbox, which contains controls and other items that can be dragged into editor and designer windows

Html Editor (Design View)

Shortcut

Description

Ctrl-B

Toggles the selected text between bold and normal

Ctrl-Shift-T

Decreases the selected paragraph by one indent unit

Ctrl-T

Indents the selected paragraph by one indent unit

Ctrl-I

Toggles the selected text between italic and normal

Ctrl-Shift-K

Prevents an absolutely positioned element from being inadvertently moved. If the element is already locked, this
unlocks it

Ctrl-G

Toggles the grid

Ctrl-Shift-G

Specifies that elements be aligned using an invisible grid. You can set grid spacing on the Design pane of HTML
designer options in the Options dialog, and the grid will be changed the next time you open a document

Ctrl-U

Toggles the selected text between underlined and normal

Ctrl-Shift-L

Displays the Bookmark dialog

Ctrl-J

Inserts <div></div> in the current HTML document

Ctrl-L

When text is selected, displays the Hyperlink dialog

Ctrl-Shift-W

Displays the Insert Image dialog

Ctrl-Alt-Up Arrow

Adds one row above the current row in the table

Ctrl-Alt-Down Arrow

Adds one row below the current row in the table

Ctrl-Alt-Left Arrow

Adds one column to the left of the current column in the table

Ctrl-Alt-Right Arrow

Adds one column to the right of the current column in the table

Ctrl-Shift-Q

Toggles display of marker icons for HTML elements that do not have a visual representation, such as comments,
scripts, and anchors for absolutely positioned elements

Ctrl-Page Down

Switches from design view to HTML view and vice versa

Ctrl-Q

Displays a 1-pixel border around HTML elements that support a BORDER attribute and have it set to zero, such as
tables, table cells, and divisions

Macro

Shortcut

Description

Alt-F8

Displays the Macro Explorer window, which lists all available macros

Alt-F11

Launches the macros IDE

Ctrl-Shift-R

Places the environment in macro record mode or completes recording if already in record mode